OzAnimals Travel

Archive for the ‘Queensland’ Category

Daydream Island is a stunning and quiet island located in the Whitsunday’s island chain within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Whitsundays Coast Islands are probably the most famous of all of the Queensland Islands, totaling 74 different islands.

Daydream Island – one kilometer long and half a kilometer wide – is well-suited for couples and families.

Natural environment

Daydream Island has three beaches, one of which – Lover’s Cove Beach – is surrounded by live coral and diverse fish life, providing a great venue for snorkeling right from the beach.

Bribie Island has something for everyone – white sandy beaches, protected rainforest, convenient towns, and accessibility by road from the mainland.

34km long and 8km wide, it is home to about 15,000 residents.  The island offers a 30km white sandy beach on its eastern side. The northern three-quarters of the island is an undeveloped and protected Recreation Area (a national park), whereas the southern end – where the bridge is located – is mostly developed. Over 80% of the population lives on the island’s western shore.

Part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Bedarra is a privately-owned island in the middle of the Family Islands National Park (the island itself is not part of the national park).

Bedarra Island is small, about 1km in size, and is located about halfway between Townsville and Cairns (130km south-east of Cairns), off the northern Queensland coast.

The best way to describe Bedarra is as a tranquil, secluded, and exclusive place to escape.

Brampton Island is a small remote island 32 kilometers off the coast of Mackay in Queensland, Australia.  The beautiful island is the southernmost island of the renowned Whitsunday Island Passage.

The island is known for its beautiful national park, the Brampton Islands National Park, which takes up most of the island’s 770-hectare landmass.  The island is also located within the UNESCO Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area.

Brampton Island offers but one accommodation option, a Voyages resort.

Snakes Downunder Reptile Park is located near Childers in Queensland. The park is run by Ian Jenkins who has been handling snakes for over 40 years. Ian has long had a fascination for snakes, having grown up in Africa where his father had an interest in snakes. After moving to Australia in 1980, Ian had the opportunity to pursue his interest in snakes. He started off dong school talks about ten years ago, and built an arena where school groups could learn about snakes. This venture developed into Snakes Downunder Reptile Park.

Brisbane Whale Watching offers humpback whale watching tours on the luxury whale vessel ‘Eye-Spy’ from Redcliffe on Moreton Bay just thirty minutes north of Brisbane. Brisbane Whale Watching has been operating tours from Redcliffe for over eight years. The Eye Spy was built by South Pacific Marine at Burpengary and launched in Brisbane in 2002. The catamaran is owned an operated by Captain Kerry Lopez from Brisbane.

The MV Eye-Spy is a luxury catamaran with six decks for viewing the whales, and air-conditioned cabins with glass from ceiling to floor.. There is full 360 degree walk around access on the lower and upper decks. The vessel caters for disabled with wheelchair facilities. The catamaran takes up to 320 passengers.

Couran Cove Island Resort is situated on South Stradbroke Island, Queensland, a 40 minute ferry ride away from the Gold Coast. The resort is set in natural surroundings with white sandy beaches, lush palm rainforest and native Australian wildlife in and around the resort. Developed in 1998, Couran Cove Island Resort is a leader in large-scale Ecotourism with a blend of first-class facilities and nature based activities. South Stradbroke Island is about 22km long with surf beach all along the east coast, and is only 2.4km at its widest. The resort marina and most of the resort complex is on the sheltered mainland side of the island where the island is at its widest.

Rockhampton Zoo is situated in the Botanic Gardens next to the Murray Lagoon in Rockhampton, Queensland. The Zoo is home to over fifty species of native and exotic animals. Established in 1869, the Rockhampton Zoo has become a popular a tourist attraction and educational facility. The zoo is committed to the conservation of endangered Central Queensland animals.

The Kangaroos and Wallabies are very friendly. Red Kangaroos, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Common Wallaroos and Agile Wallabies roam freely in grassy paddocks where visitors can walk amongst them. Other native mammals include Common Wombats and Dingoes.

Lizard Island is a continental island located on the Great Barrier Reef, 240km north of Cairns and 27km off the coast of North Queensland. Lizard Island and associated smaller islands is the only island group close to the outer barrier reef. Lizard Island is about 4.5km by 3.5 km and is surrounded by clear blue waters and fringing reefs. More than half of the island in grassland, with areas of woodland, heaths, paperbark swamps and mangroves are also found on the island. Lizard Island is home to Gould’s sand monitor, the lizard after which the island was named by James Cook during his exploration of Australia in 1770.

Heron Island is a true coral cay located right on the Great Barrier Reef. The resort is spread over about one third of the island at one end and the rest is covered in natural vegetation including thick areas of Pisonia forest. The island is only about 800m long and 250m wide, so you really have the feel of being on an island. Heron is world famous for its fantastic scuba diving and snorkeling. Here you can swim straight off the beach and snorkel amongst coral with a huge variety of fish swimming right up to your mask. There more than 30 dive sites around the island, half of them are only 15 minutes from the beach.